On 19 January 2025, Dr. Myra C. Almodiel, Director of the UP Open University Office of Public Affairs, highlighted the free UPOU massive open online courses or MOOCs in an interview for TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
The interview was part of the Aprub Yan! program hosted by Mr. Danny Buenafe and focused on the short online courses that UPOU will offer in 2025 that are free and open to the public. Dr. Almodiel highlighted that anyone may take these asynchronous online courses, even senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and others who find attending physical classes or training sessions challenging.
Dr. Almodiel explained that UPOU will be offering 44 MOOCs throughout the year, and this will be accessible through UPOU’s MOOCs Portal, model.upou.edu.ph. She specially mentioned the courses that would be opened this January and February 2025 which include Basics of Resilience, Hazard and Risk Assessment Fundamentals, Overview of Policies and Strategies for Climate and Disaster Resilience; Social Entrepreneurship, and Principles of Graphic Design. Another MOOC has been added for offering this February titled “Risk Analysis,” increasing the total MOOC offered for the year to 45. Dr. Almodiel also shared the list of courses on various topics that will be offered from March to December 2025.
Dr. Almodiel explained that the short courses are offered for a duration of 3 to 8 weeks, and certificates will be provided for successful completers at the end of the course offerings. Different courses are offered every month, and students may enroll in their desired courses for the year. They also have the option to take multiple courses at the same time.
Dr. Almodiel explained that UPOU MOOCs cater to various kinds of students, no matter where they are located in the world since everything is available online. “Many students take MOOCs to upgrade their skills and improve their qualifications.” She also emphasized that the MOOCs that UPOU offers are part of UPOU’s public service as per RA10650.
Mr. Buenafe complimented on the benefit that UPOU MOOCs will bring to many Filipinos especially with the rising rate of unemployment in the country. The free courses offered by UPOU will help Filipinos add to their knowledge and improve their credentials for better employment opportunities.
The interview with Mr. Buenafe ended with an invitation from Dr. Almodiel for viewers to take advantage of the free and online courses that UPOU offers and the degree courses that the university offers. She also invited the public to the TriConference (tricon.upou.edu.ph), an international conference that features three conferences in one: the International Conference on Open and Distance eLearning (ICODeL), International Symposium on Education, AI, and Cybersecurity (ISEAC), and International Symposium for ASEAN Studies (ISAS).
To avail and take these short and free UPOU MOOCs, register for an account on model.upou.edu.ph and self-enroll in the courses during the scheduled offering. If needed, MODeL’s chatbot, Openg, can help.
Written by Anna Cañas-Llamas ♦ Edited by Myra Almodiel ♦ Photo grabbed from TeleRadyo Serbisyo
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